Bolton striker Kevin Davies pointed out, with some disgust, that Everton had snatched last minute winners at the Reebok in each of the last two seasons.

This time it was Everton’s turn to suffer.

And the reasons were obvious.

Because they have forgotten how to defend.

And what’s most difficult for the manager to solve is that it’s not one individual who is responsible week after week.

The number of simple, avoidable, easy to stop goals his side has shipped in recent weeks has been calamitous.

From punts down the middle (Wolves), unmarked headers at corners (Stoke) to a whole gallery of howlers in Lisbon, they can now add three fresh failures at Bolton.

There was a man left shamefully unmarked in the 18-yard box, a poorly defended free-kick from the halfway line – then a punt into the penalty area from the goalkeeper.

None from the manual of impossible to stop strikes.

It’s hard to be too harsh, given Everton’s extreme circumstances at present.

Yesterday was the eighth successive game in which David Moyes has had to re-shuffle his backline – and even then he had to change it again when Johnny Heitinga gave that hand-rolling motion the second he hit the turf 10 minutes from time.

But David Moyes isn’t concerned about being harsh.

He gave his players both barrels in a post-match dressing room inquest and said he expected much more.

Defensively, maybe. But he surely couldn’t have asked for much more from the majority of his players in terms of commitment. I say majority – we’ll come to the minority later.

If Evertonians wanted to know what their players were made of, they found out after the Blues found themselves trailing after barely quarter-of-an-hour.

The goals had been coming from the first minute.

Employing their eighth different defensive line-up in as many games, it was hardly surprising Everton leaked early chances alarmingly.

This time Sylvain Distin and Heitinga offered a more familiar central defensive unit, while Tony Hibbert made his first appearance as a left-back for the Blues, and Lucas Neill his first start for the club at right-back.

But in a carbon copy of the goal which sparked Thursday’s rout, JLloyd Samuel crossed from the left and found Everton’s far post markers missing.

Fortunately Tamir Cohen is no Javier Saviola and he elected to head across goal . . . and wide.

Two minutes later the more predictable Bolton goal source, a free-kick to Kevin Davies’ head, elicited another opening, but this time the centre-forward glanced his effort wide.

But it wasn’t just in the left-back berth Everton were struggling to pick up their men. After 15 minutes Sam Ricketts charged damagingly down the right, crossed the ball through Hibbert and after Gardner miskicked, Chung-Yong Lee was left with so much time and space he might have adjusted his shorts, rubbed his hands and polished his boots on the backs of his socks before drilling decisively past Howard.

When Gary Cahill rose higher than Distin to head Bolton’s second barely minutes later, a repeat of the Europa League rout looked likeliest.

But Everton dug in.

Two-nil down away from home, just 60 hours after landing back in the country from a chastening away trip – and an entire first team of senior stars out injured – they rallied to bring the scores back level.

The goal which started the fightback was a classic.

It’s fair to say that of all the Blues’ summer acquisitions, Neill’s was probably the name which elicited least excitement, but he enjoyed an impressive debut.

He threaded an excellent ball from his own half into Louis Saha’s path, and Saha did what he was doing so well earlier this season – he turned and curved a stunning shot beyond Jaaskelainen’s dive.

Once again Neill was the provider with a penetrative forward pass, and the big Belgian twisted the man who many believe can force his way into England’s World Cup squad next summer, Cahill, inside out, before firing high into the net.

That knowledgeable old Blue, Joe Royle, suggested in midweek that Fellaini divides Evertonian opinion like no other.

If so, Jo is the other end of the spectrum. He polarises opinion – and none of it is particularly positive.

Once again his contributions were sporadic at best.

He did curl the ball against the top of the crossbar in the first half, but in truth that effort looked more like an overhit cross rather than a considered attempt to score.

And he went down midway through the first half under a challenge which may well have yielded a penalty kick.

Zat Knight undoubtedly used his arm to check the Brazilian’s progress, but the ease and the predictability with which Jo hit the turf all afternoon made it too easy for Phil Dowd to wave away the protests.

Fans who play that old pub game ‘name your best Everton team’ probably wouldn’t have Jo anywhere near it.

All were unavailable to Moyes yesterday, which underlines the depth of the injury crisis the Blues are currently having to endure.

One more name was added in the 80th minute yesterday, when Heitinga limped from the field.

At least Seamus Coleman came on in his more familiar position of right full-back, but for Everton it was just one reshuffle too many.

Another free-kick, taken by Juusi Jaaskelainen, was poorly defended, and it was unfortunate that the ball broke to substitute Klasnic.

But you make your own luck – and the Blues made none of it yesterday. He finished clinically.

That was the second time in successive weekends that the Blues have conceded a goal from a goalkeeper’s kick – and of all the casualties he has to wait on, perhaps it’s Joseph Yobo and Phil Jagielka that David Moyes wants back most quickly.